Judge orders Apple to stop colluding on e-book publishers

As expected, the judge overseeing the government’s civil case against Apple for fixing ebook prices has issued a permanent injunction against the company. As part of her order, US District Judge Denise Cote made good on her promise to install a third party to monitor Apple’s operations and ensure that the company complies with antitrust laws. The judge also required Apple to sever any agreements with the top five book publishers that restrict retail ebook prices in any way, and prohibited Apple from entering into any similar agreements for up to four years.